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☆ Latin-fusion dishes like Caribbean tacos and jerk chicken with guava barbecue sauce showcased chefs' cultural pride at an Austin food festival
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Cat Cardenas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Chadwick Burnaw, the owner of an event company, hosted the Sazón Latin Food Festival in Austin. This article is part of "Festivals of Flavor," a series celebrating Latin festival cuisines. Festivalgoers danced to music at the Sazón Latin Food Festival in March. Cat Cardenas for BIHe'd scope out San Francisco's nightlife scene, looking for clubs that would play the merengue and bachata music he was familiar with. They served Jamaican-Latin fusion dishes alongside their kids at the Sazón Latin Food Festival.

Persons: Chadwick Burnaw, —, he'd, Burnaw, Festivalgoers, Cat Cardenas, Cardenas, Chris Burrell, Yadira, we'd, Burrell, . Cat Cardenas, they've, Tatiana French, Dejean, Mix'T, they'd, pico de gallo, it's, she's, there's Organizations: Service, Washington, Food, San Francisco State University, BI, City, aguas, Honduran, sos pwa Locations: Austin, South Austin, Caribbean, DC, San Francisco, Texas, California, Bay, America, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Samba, Clarendon, Jamaica, Honduras, ., Puerto Rican, Costa Rican, Virginia, French, Haitian, East Austin

☆ The true face of immigration
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Baltimore was sleeping when the fully laden cargo ship, adrift and without power, slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, bringing it down in seconds. All of those missing were immigrants, outsiders who had come to the US from Mexico and Central America for a better life. Miguel Luna, an immigrant from El Salvador, has been identified as one of the six people who was on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed Tuesday. And when the Francis Scott Key Bridge rises again, it’s a good bet it will be immigrants who are building it. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that the missing immigrants in the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse were from Central America.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Donald Trump, Biden, ” Trump, Trump’s, Miguel Luna, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, Yassir Suazo Sandoval, Martin Suazo, it’s Organizations: CNN, Central America, “, CNN One Locations: Mexico, Central, United States, Manchester , New Hampshire, El Salvador, Maryland, Honduran, Baltimore, Central America

CNN —They worked the overnight shift fixing potholes on a famed bridge that 30,000 Marylanders relied on every day. Martin SuazoMaynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, was one of the construction workers who vanished after the bridge collapse, his brother Martin Suazo told CNN. Family members in Baltimore called Martin Suazo early Tuesday morning to tell him his brother was missing, Suazo said. He was married with two children – an 18-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter, Martin Suazo said. “The entire Baltimore region and CASA family is lamenting this tragedy,” Torres said.

Persons: Yassir Suazo Sandoval, Martin Suazo, Suazo, Maynor Suazo, Maynor, –, Sandoval, Miguel Luna, Francis Scott Key, Gustavo Torres, “ Miguel Luna, …, ” Torres, Tina Burnside Organizations: CNN, FBI, Honduran Embassy, Maryland, CASA Locations: Baltimore, Santa Bárbara, Honduras, Honduran, Washington, Maryland, El Salvador

☆ ‘Yo Soy la Mamá’: A Migrant Mother’s Struggle to Get Back Her Son
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Deborah Sontag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Where was my sweet little boy? By the time Olga, then 28, tracked her son to Massachusetts, he had been removed from his father over allegations of physical abuse. Calling office after office of the Department of Children and Families, she finally reached a woman who turned out to be Ricardo’s caseworker. “Yo soy la mamá,” Olga replied, bursting into tears. In early January 2022, Olga, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her children, flew to Boston.

Persons: Olga, Ricardo, she’d, ” Olga, “, — Organizations: Department of Children Locations: Honduran, Hollywood, Fla, Miami, Massachusetts, Boston

☆ Ex-Honduras President Found Guilty in Drug Trafficking Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Colin Moynihan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For more than a decade, Juan Orlando Hernández wielded power in Honduras, first as a member of Congress, then as that body’s leader and finally as the nation’s president. On Friday, an American jury in Federal District Court found Mr. Hernández guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and of possessing and conspiring to possess “destructive devices,” including machine guns. After the verdict was delivered, Mr. Hernández, who faces a mandatory prison term of at least 40 years and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, rose to his feet and stood quietly with folded hands as the jurors filed from the courtroom. During his first presidential campaign in 2013, Mr. Hernández, a member of the right-wing Honduran National Party, portrayed himself as a law-and-order candidate who could stem the epidemic of drugs and crime that had suffused the country.

Persons: Juan Orlando Hernández, Hernández Organizations: Court, Honduran National Party Locations: Honduras, United States

☆ Former president of Honduras convicted in U.S. of aiding drug traffickers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez testifies during his trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges in federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., March 6, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted Friday in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used his military and national police force to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States. The jury returned its verdict at a federal court after a two week trial, which has been closely followed in his home country. The scene in the courtroom was subdued and Hernandez seemed relaxed as the verdict on three counts was announced by the jury foreperson. In remarks to the jury before they left the courtroom, Judge P. Kevin Castel praised jurors for reaching a unanimous verdict, which was necessary for a conviction.

Persons: Juan Orlando Hernandez, Juan Orlando Hernández, Renato Stabile, Hernandez, P, Kevin Castel Organizations: Central, Defense Locations: Honduras, Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Honduran, New York, United States, Central American, Tegucigalpa

☆ Former Honduran president found guilty in drug trafficking trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Ana Melgar | David Shortell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty Friday of drug trafficking by an American jury after a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court. Prosecutors had accused Hernández, 55, of conspiring with drug cartels during his tenure as they moved more than 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras toward the United States. In exchange, prosecutors said, Hernández received millions of dollars in bribes that he used to fuel his rise in Honduran politics. Hernández was president of Honduras from 2014 until 2022. He was extradited to the United States in 2022 after the completion of his second term in office on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, conspiracy to possess firearms and destructive devices for drug trafficking, and possession of this type of weapon during the drug trafficking conspiracy.

Persons: Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández, Prosecutors, Hernández, ” Prosecutors, “ He’s, ” Raymond Colon, “, ”, Hernandez “, General Merrick Garland, Hernández “ Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, ”, Honduran National Police Locations: Honduras, Manhattan, United States

☆ Cocaine and Consequences: A Honduran President’s Trial in New York
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Corey Kilgannon | Wesley Parnell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the clamor of the New York City news cycle, the criminal case currently playing out in Lower Manhattan against former President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras hardly registers. To Hondurans, it is a rare chance for national justice. “He sent our country to hell,” said Flavio Ulises Yuja, 62, who had traveled from Honduras to Florida for a vacation but abruptly changed plans and flew to New York to attend the trial. The trial is a spotlight on the woes of a country plagued by corruption, poverty and lawlessness. And even as Americans debate weaknesses in their own democracy and justice system, Hondurans see American courts as a venue for something unavailable back home: a fair trial and a measure of justice.

Persons: Juan Orlando Hernández, Hernández, “, ”, Flavio Ulises Yuja Organizations: New York, Court Locations: New York City, Lower Manhattan, Honduras, American, Florida, New York

☆ El Chapo gave a briefcase with $1 million to the campaign of the ex-Honduras president now accused of US drug trafficking: witness
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Noah Hurowitz | Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At the meeting, El Chapo told Tony Hernández he was looking to open new trafficking routes through Honduras. El Chapo then asked if, under his brother's administration, the Valle brothers or Ardon Soriano himself would be extradited for prosecution. AdvertisementAt that point, El Chapo offered $1 million to Hernández's campaign, Ardon Soriano testified. At a different meeting that year, Ardon Soriano and Tony Hernández met with El Chapo again, and El Chapo personally handed the briefcase with $1 million to Hernández, the convicted drug trafficker testified. "Juan Orlando Hernández told me that he had had them extradited because they had tried to have him killed," Ardon Soriano told the jury.

Persons: Joaquín, Guzmán, Juan Orlando Hernández, El Chapo, Amilcar Alexander Ardon Soriano, El Paraíso, —, Hernández, Ardon Soriano, Soriano, Miguel Arnulfo Valle, Luis Alfonso —, Tony, Tony Hernández, Valle, Juan Orlando, Ardon Organizations: Business, Prosecutors, Honduras —, National Party, El, Miguel Arnulfo Valle Valle Locations: Honduras, Honduran, El, Manhattan, United States, America, Espíritu

☆ Ex-Honduras president worked hand in hand with violent traffickers to transport 'massive amounts of cocaine' into the US: prosecutor
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Noah Hurowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández worked "hand in hand" with violent drug traffickers to send massive loads of cocaine into the United States, a federal prosecutor said on Wednesday in his opening statements at the high-profile New York trial of the fallen political leader. As the trial on drug and weapons charges kicked off, Hernández sat in the courtroom wearing a black suit. AdvertisementHernández's defense attorney, Renato Stabile, told the jury in his opening statements that Hernández "does not sit down with drug traffickers." Advertisement"There's gonna be a lot of talk at this trial, but not a lot of concrete evidence," Stabile continued. Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, Josè Sànchez told jurors of 2013 meetings between Hernández and convicted drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez at the office of the company where Sànchez worked.

Persons: Juan Orlando Hernández, David Robles, Hernández, Joaquín, Moises Castillo, Robles, Renato Stabile, Stabile, they've, San Pedro Sula, Josè Sànchez, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez, Sànchez, Mr, they're Organizations: Prosecutors, Former Honduran, AP Locations: Honduran, United States, Manhattan, Honduras, America, Mexican, San Pedro

☆ Ex-Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández, former US ally, to stand trial in NY for alleged cocaine smuggling empire
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Noah Hurowitz | Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández will stand trial in New York on drug trafficking charges. Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández in 2020. Juan Orlando Hernández, center in chains, is shown to the press at the Police Headquarters in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. In this courtroom sketch, Juan Orlando Hernández, center, speaks into a microphone while pleading not guilty to drug trafficking and weapons charges in 2022. Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernández, the brother of Juan Orlando Hernández.

Persons: Juan Orlando Hernández, Hernández, —, Joaquín, Moises Castillo, Hernández's, James D, it's, Elmer Martinez, Hernández —, Juan Carlos Bonilla, Mauricio Hernandez Pineda, " Pineda, Bonilla, Pineda, Juan Antonio, Tony, Tony Hernández, Tony Hernández's, El Chapo, ledgers, Elizabeth Williams Hernández's, Pamela Ruíz, Rúiz, Cachiros, Hondurans, Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, Alex Ardon, Fernando Antonio, Juan Orlando Organizations: Prosecutors, Service, AP, Embassy, of, Police, Honduran National Police, Central, International, Business, National Party, Sinaloa Cartel, Honduran Locations: Honduran, New York, Honduras, United States, America, Mexican, Manhattan, Tegucigalpa, Hernández, Southern, of New York, Washington, Brooklyn, Tigre, Miami, Colombia, El, Central America, El Paraiso, Guatemala, Sinaloa

On Tuesday, nearly two years after he was extradited to the United States, he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a federal court in New York. By pleading guilty to a single drug trafficking charge, Bonilla avoided a trial scheduled to begin Monday and likely a much longer sentence. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel confirmed Wednesday that Hernández’s trial would begin Monday. Hernández was extradited to the U.S. in April 2022, just three months after leaving office, and faces drug trafficking and weapons charges. Hernández’s rise to lead Honduras’ congress and then to run for president was fueled in part by drug money, prosecutors allege.

Persons: Juan Carlos Bonilla, El, ”, Bonilla, Juan Orlando Hernández, Kevin Castel, Mauricio Hernández Pineda, Hernández’s, Marlon Duarte, Duarte, Hernández, General Merrick Garland, Hernández “, ” Bonilla, Porfirio Lobo Organizations: National Police, District, U.S . U.S, U.S, Prosecutors Locations: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, El Tigre, United States, New York, U.S, Honduran, Manhattan

Some days, more than 1,000 arrive in the boulder-strewn mountains near San Diego, alone. These encampments would likely vanish under a Senate bill that would make sweeping changes to immigration laws, including allowing a border emergency authority that would restrict asylum when arrests for illegal crossings hit certain thresholds. If it overcomes long odds, the legislation would radically upend how asylum is handled at the border. Mbala Glodi, 42, arrived in Jacumba Hot Springs, a tiny border town east of San Diego, after crossing the border illegally in September. ___Spagat reported from San Diego.

Persons: Donald Trump, ”, Juan Andres Valverde, Samuel Schultz, Maria del Rosario Lanza, ___ Spagat Organizations: Senate, “, Homeland, Biden, Homeland Security, CBP Locations: SPRINGS, Calif, China, Colombia, Mexico, U.S, San Diego, Ukraine, Israel, New York, Vermont, United States, Angola, COVID, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Tijuana , Mexico, Honduran, Tegucigalpa, Chicago, Washington, Fort Worth , Texas

Crossings in recent weeks are down overall along the entire U.S. border, including areas without such a heavy security presence. The arrival of GOP governors to Eagle Pass rounds out a weekend that has kept the small border city of roughly 30,000 residents in an unwitting spotlight. The number of crossings in Eagle Pass has recently fallen to a few hundred a day. Mexico has bolstered immigration efforts that include adding more checkpoints and sending people from the northern border to southern Mexico. Melissa Ruiz, 30, arrived at the Piedras Negras shelter, across the river from Eagle Pass, along with her four children.

Persons: — Kyle Willis, “ It’s, It’s, ”, Willis, Greg Abbott, Joe Biden's, Joe Biden, Ron DeSantis, Biden, John Modlin, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Donald Trump, MAGA, Melissa Ruiz, Ruiz, Maria Verza, Mexico City anf Elliot Spagat Organizations: Texas National Guard, Texas Gov, Florida Gov, National Guard, U.S . Border Patrol, Border Patrol, –, U.S . Biden, Eagle, AP, Associated Locations: PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico, U.S, Texas, Grande, Eagle, Piedras Negras, Park, Tucson , Arizona, Mexican, Rio Grande, Central America, Ecuador, Peru, Honduran, Piedras, Mexico City, San Diego

☆ Several Hundred Honduran Migrants Prepare to Travel North - Local Media
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Several hundred migrants have gathered at a bus terminal in northern Honduras in preparation to head towards the United States, local television reported on Friday, seeking to flee poverty and a lack of jobs in the Central American nation. Hoy Mismo news channel estimated that about 300 people had gathered at the Gran Terminal bus station in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, largely young people and families holding children. The caravan, expected to leave on Saturday, would mark the first such group of Honduran migrants traveling north during the administration of leftist President Xiomara Castro, who took office at the start of 2022. The government of Honduras estimates that about 64% of the country's 10 million inhabitants live in poverty. The Honduras migration and security ministries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Hoy, San Pedro Sula, Xiomara Castro, Wilfredo Bonilla, Gustavo Palencia, Sarah Morland, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Central, Gran Locations: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, United States, Central American, San Pedro

☆ America Ferrera’s powerful Critics Choice Award speech
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —America Ferrera, who was honored with the SeeHer Award at Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards, used her speech to inspire others. Ferrera starred as Gloria in “Barbie.” Her character delivered a memorable movie monologue about the challenges of being a woman, and she was introduced by her “Barbie” co-star Margot Robbie. Ferrera began by thanking the Critics Choice Association. “Truly, your voices shape how people think about and value the stories we tell. “Receiving the SeeHer Award for my contributions to more authentic portrayals of women and girls — could it be more meaningful to me?

Persons: America Ferrera, Ferrera, Gloria, “ Barbie, ”, Barbie ”, Margot Robbie, “, I’m, ” Ferrera, Betty ”, Ariana Greenblatt, ” Jenna Ortega, Selena Gomez, Robbie, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Tom Ackerley, David Heyman, Ryan Gosling —, ’ Organizations: CNN, America, Choice, “, Latina Locations: Honduran

☆ Historic Mexico Church Becomes Capital's Largest Shelter for Weary Migrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Dec. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By David Alire GarciaMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A historic Mexico City church has morphed into the capital's largest migrant shelter, with hundreds of sleeping mats stacked high inside and a growing tent city clustered around it where many await news before resuming their risky trek north. The church is a way station for migrants as most wait for unpredictable appointments with U.S. border agents through a mobile phone app. DHS did not share overall wait times and it is unclear if they have lengthened or shortened since then. Arriving at the church earlier this week, 30-year-old Venezuelan migrant Alejandro Urbina explained near his tent that he logs onto the app every day. Reverend Benito Torres, the church's pastor, explained that the Christian imperative to help the most vulnerable is what motivates him.

Persons: David Alire Garcia, Eva Alvarez, Dominick, Alejandro Urbina, Trixy, Benito Torres, Dave Graham, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: David Alire Garcia MEXICO CITY, Catholic, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, DHS Locations: Mexico City, America, United States, Honduran, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, U.S, Belgian, Colombia, Panama, New York, Mexican

☆ They Fled Climate Chaos. Asylum Law Made Decades Ago Might Not Help
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Miriam Jordan | More About Miriam Jordan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First came the hurricanes — two storms, two weeks apart in 2020 — that devastated Honduras and left the country’s most vulnerable in dire need. In distant villages inhabited by Indigenous people known as the Miskito, homes were leveled and growing fields were ravaged. Then came the drug cartels, who stepped into the vacuum left by the Honduran government, ill-equipped to respond to the catastrophe. “Everything changed after the hurricanes, and we need protection,” Cosmi, a 36-year-old father of two, said, adding that his uncle was killed after being ordered to abandon the family plot. Hundreds of other Miskito were alongside him in tiny tents, all hoping to claim asylum.

Persons: ” Locations: Honduras, Honduran, Mexico, Texas

So when Banegas fled gang threats in Honduras once more in 2021, he set his sights not on the United States, but Mexico. He gets along with his Mexican coworkers, he said, and he's proud his six-month-old son, David, is a Mexican citizen. 'VERY SOLID OPTION'A decade ago, a few hundred people annually received asylum in Mexico. The vast majority of migrants who enter Mexico continue north toward the U.S., posing challenges for the Biden administration. U.S., Mexican and U.N. officials have called for regional cooperation to help migrants resettle in places such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia, aiming to reduce illegal migration to the U.S.

Persons: Walter Banegas, Daniel Becerril, Banegas, Long, he's, David, Biden, Giovanni Lepri, Arturo Rocha, Jose Medina Mora, Fernando Hernandez, Kaitlyn, Hernandez, Daina Beth Solomon, Laura Gottesdiener, Christian Plumb, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: Pace, REUTERS, Rights, United, Pace Industries, UNHCR, U.S, ASK, Thomson Locations: Honduras, Mexico, Saltillo , Mexico, Rights SALTILLO, Mexican, Saltillo, Honduran, United States, United Nations, Michigan, U.S, Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Texas, Monterrey, Chang's, Mexico City

☆ Some Migrants Are Swapping Their American Dream for a Mexican One
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

So when Banegas fled gang threats in Honduras once more in 2021, he set his sights not on the United States, but Mexico. He gets along with his Mexican coworkers, he said, and he's proud his six-month-old son, David, is a Mexican citizen. The vast majority of migrants who enter Mexico continue north toward the U.S., posing challenges for the Biden administration. U.S., Mexican and U.N. officials have called for regional cooperation to help migrants resettle in places such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia, aiming to reduce illegal migration to the U.S. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City and Laura Gottesdiener in Saltillo; Editing by Christian Plumb and Suzanne Goldenberg)

Persons: Laura Gottesdiener, Beth Solomon, Walter Banegas, Banegas, Long, he's, David, Biden, Giovanni Lepri, Arturo Rocha, Jose Medina Mora, Fernando Hernandez, Kaitlyn, Hernandez, Daina Beth Solomon, Christian Plumb, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: United, Pace Industries, UNHCR, U.S, ASK Locations: Beth Solomon SALTILLO, Mexico, Mexican, Saltillo, Honduran, Honduras, United States, United Nations, Michigan, U.S, Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Texas, Monterrey, Chang's, Mexico City

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried’s Life Behind Bars: Crypto Tips and Paying With Fish
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mackerel packets, known as ’macks,’ are a favored federal jailhouse currency after officials banned smoking. Photo Illustration: Illustration by The Wall Street Journal; Photo: Bill BaroniSam Bankman-Fried , convicted of fraud in the meltdown of FTX, has traded in crypto for a new currency: mackerel. The fallen crypto king, who is cooling his heels at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center while he awaits sentencing for seven felony offenses, has learned the fundamentals of prison economics while sharing a dormitory with a former Honduran president awaiting criminal trial and a recently convicted former top cop of Mexico, people familiar with the matter said.

Persons: Bill Baroni Sam Bankman, Fried Organizations: Wall, Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Locations: Brooklyn’s, Honduran, Mexico

☆ Thousands in Honduras march in anti-government protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Gustavo Palencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets of the Honduran capital on Saturday in anti-government protests against leftist President Xiomara Castro, angered by attempts to engineer what they say is an unconstitutional power grab. In a demonstration sponsored by opposition parties, protesters in the Central American country accused the Castro government of seeking to transform Honduras by hand picking public officials. Roughly 10,000 people gathered in Tegucigalpa, the capital, according to a Reuters eyewitness, in a march that ended without incident. The opposition protest was sparked after the ruling party elected a new interim chief prosecutor on November 1, without holding a congressional vote. Castro, who was sworn in as Honduras' first woman president in January 2022 and describes herself as a democratic socialist, has sought to strengthen diplomatic relations with the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Persons: Xiomara Castro, Castro, David Chávez, Gustavo Palencia, Lucinda Elliott, Diane Craft Organizations: Central, National Party, Honduran, Castro's Liberty, Refoundation Party, Thomson Locations: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduran, Central American, Honduras, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Tegucigalpa

☆ Honduras seizes nearly half ton of fentanyl in first opioid bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Gustavo Palencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Honduran police discovered nearly half a metric ton of the synthetic drug fentanyl hidden in a shipping container, officials said on Wednesday, in the first such seizure of the opioid in the Central American country. Honduras has for years been a transit point for cocaine trafficked from South American nations including Colombia and Bolivia en route to the United States, but its role in the fentanyl trade is poorly understood. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is estimated to be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. The United States has an opioid epidemic where the CDC recorded 75% of nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved an opioid. Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by David Alire Garcia; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gustavo Sanchez, Sanchez, Juan Orlando Hernandez, Gustavo Palencia, David Alire Garcia, Grant McCool Organizations: Central American, . Security, Cortes, Twitter, Police, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, United, Thomson Locations: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduran, Britain, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Atlantic, Central America, Colombia, Bolivia, United States

☆ Honduras Seizes Nearly Half Ton of Fentanyl in First Opioid Bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Gustavo PalenciaTEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran police discovered nearly half a metric ton of the synthetic drug fentanyl hidden in a shipping container, officials said on Wednesday, in the first such seizure of the opioid in the Central American country. Police are investigating whether Honduras was the ship's final destination, or if it was only meant to be a stop on its way elsewhere, according to officials. Honduras has for years been a transit point for cocaine trafficked from South American nations including Colombia and Bolivia en route to the United States, but its role in the fentanyl trade is poorly understood. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is estimated to be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. The United States has an opioid epidemic where the CDC recorded 75% of nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved an opioid.

Persons: Gustavo Palencia, Gustavo Sanchez, Sanchez, Juan Orlando Hernandez, David Alire Garcia, Grant McCool Organizations: Gustavo Palencia TEGUCIGALPA, Central American, . Security, Cortes, Twitter, Police, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, United Locations: Honduran, Britain, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Atlantic, Central America, Colombia, Bolivia, United States

☆ Nicaragua pardons, returns 21 Hondurans, including MS-13 gang leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Mara Salvatrucha leader David Elias Campbell Licona, known as "El Viejo Dan", is escorted by Honduras law enforcement officers before being deported to Nicaragua, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 5, 2023. Nicaragua also plans to return prisoners to Costa Rica, the government of its southern neighbor said on Saturday. A similar transfer on Oct. 18 involved 43 Honduran prisoners. Campbell Licona had been wanted by Honduran authorities on money laundering and gang charges since 2016, and was captured in Nicaragua in June 2021. Campbell Licona used businesses the gang owned or controlled to launder drug proceeds, including through U.S. banks, U.S. authorities have said.

Persons: Mara Salvatrucha, David Elias Campbell Licona, El, Campbell Licona, Ismael Lopez, Gustavo Palencia, Sarah Kinosian, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Secretaria, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Honduran, Thomson Locations: Honduras, Nicaragua, Tegucigalpa, Seguridad del Gobierno de Honduras, Handout, Rights MANAGUA, Honduran, Costa Rica, Los Angeles, United States, Central America, U.S

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